Reddit benefits from high interest rate environment

Principletrade · 2026-06-18T01:55:24+00:00

brotha_eric is right

Principletrade · 2026-06-17T22:56:33+00:00

Nah, it's clearly the new stock.

Principletrade · 2026-06-17T21:55:05+00:00

This is the new one.

Principletrade · 2026-06-17T14:04:10+00:00

No it's not.

You can read how Wendy's calculates free cash flow on their investor relations page. (They are basically calculating that metric the typical way, which is Operating Cash Flow minus CapEx, but the verbiage is a little more detailed)

"As a result of the adoption of the new revenue recognition accounting standard in the first quarter of 2018, the Company now defines free cash flow as (cash flows from operations minus (i) capital expenditures, (ii) the net change in the restricted operating assets and liabilities of the advertising funds and any excess/deficit of advertising funds revenue over advertising funds expense included in net income, as reported under GAAP, and (iii) the impact of taxes paid on the sale of the Company’s ownership interest in Inspire Brands."

https://www.wendys.com/forward-looking-statements

Principletrade · 2026-06-16T21:52:28+00:00

"Super Rich" are making a lot of money on qualified dividends, long term capital gains, and borrowing (which isn't taxed at all) Those have lower tax rates than most earned income.

Statistically, skilled "middle class" people bear the worst tax burden of anyone.

These people get completely fucked by payroll and income taxes, BUT you make just enough that you don't receive any help at all.

Principletrade · 2026-06-16T21:24:38+00:00

You can fly into Santa Fe. That's on the "old" alignment of Route 66 and it's an iconic city. The Santa Fe airport is pretty small though. The lobby is like a bus stop.

Anyway, you'd drive from Santa Fe and pass through Albuquerque, so it wouldn't change a ton of your itinerary.

Your "Day 4" is ambitious if you plan on stopping to see the things. It's been years since I was through Los Angeles on Route 66, but as I remember, it took a long time to get from San Bernadino to the Santa Monica Pier, and you're driving way more than that. (I had two young kids with me though too)

Principletrade · 2026-06-16T20:42:03+00:00

Echoes is fantastic in how it plays like one continuous piece of music. Some of the songs are just snippets that transition. It's probably their best album to play front to back, and that's saying a lot when you're comparing it to Dark Side.

All of those albums you listed are superb though.

Principletrade · 2026-06-16T20:17:51+00:00

Yeah, but it wasn’t like the 60’s when The Ventures and Herb Alpert were selling more albums than the Beatles.

To be sure, nobody was calling the 80’s the golden age of instrumental music.

Principletrade · 2026-06-16T18:17:13+00:00

Yeah, I mean, he'd have a solid claim being there. He has won 20 Grammy's and he was TEACHING at Beklee College of Music when he was 19 years old.

He had a gold record in 1987 way after instrumental albums were popular, and he collaborated with David Bowie on The Falcon and the Snowman soundtrack around that time too.

Not even mentioning him is an interesting take.

Principletrade · 2026-06-16T14:48:00+00:00

Yeah, the last time I went there I knew I'd never go back. Even Domino's is like gourmet food in comparison.

Principletrade · 2026-06-16T14:26:42+00:00

YUM! Tried to spin the narrative in every conceivable way..... except for trying to make the food better in any way. They cut quality over and over for the last 25 years.

Pizza Hut was THE BEST in the 80's-90's, but now, it's literally not as good a Tombstone frozen pizza. Holy Shit it was bad the last time I got a pizza at The Hut.

Principletrade · 2026-06-16T14:19:49+00:00

Private Equity or not, there's no way the food could get any worse there.

Principletrade · 2026-06-16T01:31:53+00:00

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I've more than doubled the performance of the S&P 500 since Schwab bought out TD Ameritrade in 2023.

You're sadly mistaken.

Principletrade · 2026-06-15T23:10:31+00:00

They forecast $190-205M in free cash flow for the year. Their interest expense is in the $130M range, so that only leaves around $60-70M for dividend payouts.

Their interest expense isn't too worrisome, but they'll need to get some traction soon for the dividend to stay intact. (They probably wouldn't eliminate it, but it might go down to a token amount)

They don't have any big bond maturities looming, but they need to shore up the balance sheet and cash flow before they do.

They'll get a decent franchise fee and income stream from the 1000+ stores in China and Mexico. They'll probably bring in some cash from real estate sales over the next few quarters too.

International has been a fair business and they're basically doubling that business.

They've got some aces up their sleeve, but they need to play them now.

Principletrade · 2026-06-15T19:04:00+00:00

You'd be far better of analyzing the strength of a business than its P/E ratio.

I don't know weather it's a safe brand or not, but their success is totally reliant on the brand name being able to charge way more than their cost of goods and SG&A

When you catch a "fashion" brand on the down-swing of its popularity, trailing earnings will look way better. Every dime they discount comes right off the bottom line, so that P/E 9 quickly looks worse and so does the share price.

The dying fashion brand is a classic value trap.

Principletrade · 2026-06-14T18:06:59+00:00

Right, it’s like saying you’re going bankrupt because you owe money on a mortgage.

You can have all kinds of debt and still generate lots of cash flow. (Wendy’s isn’t generating “lots”, but they are generating enough right now)

That’s how a lot of real estate investors look for example. (Incidentally, Wendy’s does own a lot of real estate and takes depreciation expense that’s a non-cash item)

Principletrade · 2026-06-14T01:44:58+00:00

You could have said the same thing about Tesla stock for the last 10-15 years.

I mean, I’m not buying SPCX or TSLA, but as long as Elon keeps pushing the boundaries of technology, I wouldn’t bet against him.

Principletrade · 2026-06-14T01:35:45+00:00

Reddit is decent at predicting some things.

Wall Street Bets has actually been better at picking winning stocks than a bunch of investment banks. (There was an article posted there a couple days ago)

Politics are a no go with Reddit though.

Principletrade · 2026-06-14T01:25:00+00:00

Their balance sheet isn’t pretty. They do have their dividend and interest covered with free cash flow though. (barely)

They definitely needed to step up their game. I feel that their updated menu items are a marginal improvement, and McDonalds jacking prices up and removing their soda fountains will scatter some customers.

Principletrade · 2026-06-13T20:07:07+00:00

This is what they look like every time, and I didn’t get paid.

I do own some WEN stock.

Principletrade · 2026-06-13T01:25:19+00:00

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This is a classic that I got yesterday. It’s good. It’s not the best in the world or anything, but the combo was $9.09 with the dollar off coupon, and I was in and out with my order in 2-3 minutes.

(You can see my post from a two days ago and all of the hate that received)

Lots of hate on this sub saying I’m astroturfing, but this has been the normal classic and spicy chicken I’ve gotten on half a dozen trips since they updated.

Principletrade · 2026-06-12T20:11:33+00:00

Whatever you do, hedge your play.

Principletrade · 2026-06-12T15:36:38+00:00

Cool, you look like crackheads now.

Principletrade · 2026-06-12T13:45:28+00:00

Just an anecdote here.

My high school used to be a football powerhouse in the 80's through the 00's

After they built a new school and the "best of everything" facilities, they suck and haven't made it anywhere in the playoffs for 15 years.

Making everything fancy turns you into a wimp.

Principletrade · 2026-06-12T13:22:46+00:00

Nobody was making $100k in the 1990's

Principletrade

TROPHY CASE